Your search for wood doctor found 257 documents (of 12983 searched).
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Exterior Wood Finish Maintenance This long discussion starts with a question about maintaining the finish on a beautiful outdoor wood gate, and continues into a detailed examination of the difficult durability issues with exterior clear finishes. January 14, 2008
Wood Composting Advice from the Wood Doctor on composting chips, shavings, or sawdust for use in landscaping or gardening. January 30, 2013
Outdoor wood furnaces Experiences with outdoor "water stove" heating systems. March 20, 2001
Rx for Wood Machining Defects Dr. Gene Wengert examines the causes for defects in solid lumber caused by machining. 1998.
Bending Wood: Steam or Heat? In steam bending, is it the moisture or the heat that makes the wood bendable? The doctor explains, it's both. October 17, 2012
Rx For Bending Wood Dr. Gene Wengert offers advice on bending solid lumber in production applications. 1998.
Blue-Stained Pine Pros and Cons Controversy simmers over whether blue stain is is a special value, a visual defect, or a mold liability risk. September 17, 2008
No-blotch dying Methods to achieve uniform finishes. March 5, 2003
Lumber Grading, Quality, and Small Mills Here's an extended discussion of the public policy issues involved in lumber grading, and construction using un-graded lumber, as seen from the point of view of the small sawmill operator. May 18, 2010
A Wood Identification Puzzle No solid answers for this mixed selection of antique boards, but an interesting lesson from the Wood Doctor on the step-by-step method of identifying wood based on end grain. January 12, 2015
Finishing mahogany Producing the dark color expected of mahogany. February 12, 2003
Fortune Teller: Making More Money in the Wood Industry Wood Doctor Gene Wengert makes some educated guesses about the near future in the wood products industry, and offers some advice about how wood-based businesses can profit from change. April 15, 2013
How to Prevent Drying Stress A quick explanation from the Wood Doctor of what causes drying stress, and how to prevent or reduce it. August 15, 2011
Raised Glue Joints on a Wood Countertop Detailed analysis of why glue joints may show up as visible bumps or grooves on a wood surface in a location subject to moisture changes. April 24, 2009
Is It Practical to Store Logs for Long Periods? Most logs will deteriorate quickly if not cut and dried. Here's a long debate on the practicality of pond storage and other proposed ways around the dilemma. April 19, 2006
Treated pine vs. cedar The Wood Doctor offers his prognosis for outdoor projects using cedar and treated pine. 1998.
Sawmill recovery rate Does one sawmill's recovery rate make it a better choice over another mill? (From WOODWEB's Sawing and Drying Forum) February 18, 2003
Furniture from Air-Dried Red Oak If "air drying" is understood to include drying to equilibrium in a conditioned indoor space, then the result can be useable wood. May 27, 2008
Fuzzy Mahogany Tension wood may exhibit more "fuzz" than wood that was not stressed during tree growth. December 24, 2012
High-Quality Cherry Slab Doors An extended discussion of the advantages of various ways to make slab doors. October 25, 2006
Diagnosing a Beetle Infestation The Wood Doctor discusses the risk indicated by insect exit holes appearing in wood recently brought indoors. April 30, 2009
Darkening wood with steam Saturated steam can be an effective way to darken some species of wood, while still green. 1998.
Wood density studies Sources for reports on several studies of wood densities are provided. 1998.
A PEG primer Some general information on this green-wood treatment. 1998.
Woods for outdoor furniture A manufacturer of outdoor furniture consults the Wood Doctor for help with choosing a species to replace beech. 1998.
Relative densities of various birches The Wood Doctor offers resources for information on the relative densities of birch lumbers, and offers an opinion on plastic laminate. 1998.
Twisting cabinet doors Only changes in moisture content cause wood to change in size or shape. 1998.
Pushing the Envelope with a Herringbone Table Top Small pieces of wood sliced 1/8 inch thick, laid into a herringbone pattern, and applied to an MDF substrate on both sides, have been known to work as a custom table top. March 26, 2007
Workbench end caps: Bad idea? Though European workbenches commonly feature caps over the ends of the worktop material, these may hinder natural movement of the wood on this side of the Atlantic.
Salvaging lumber from submerged wood The best chance for salvaging lumber from submerged wood lies in cutting it quickly, and drying it slowly. 1998.
Pursuing perfect miters Methods and equipment for achieving the highest quality. September 20, 2003
The "Sustainable" Chain of Custody How can a small shop get certification that its wood is sustainably produced, all the way back to the source? June 30, 2009
Knife Characteristics for Best Moulder Finish Quality This informative thread includes some expert discussion of the old-school method of back-beveling cutter knives, and also describes other knife characteristics that can improve the quality of machined wood straight off the moulder. August 13, 2014
Salt pastes and PEG Polyethylene glycol is high-priced, but the alternatives for stabilizing green wood are few. 1998.
Wood Movement Worries with Large Wainscot Panels Oversized floating panels are likely to grow and shrink too much to be practical. Here are some explanations, and advice on substitute materials. August 12, 2014
Working with Ipe Wood Woodworkers air their objections to Ipe, which is heavy, hard, and rough on tools. The Wood Doctor adds a little technical detail to the discussion. March 12, 2014
Venting and Fans for a Solar Kiln A quick expert explanation from the Wood Doctor of how and why vents and fans are used in a solar wood drying kiln. April 20, 2011
Mold on Southern Pine The wood doctor explains why Southern Pine supposedly dried to 18% moisture content would still support mold after being stacked inside a dried-in house under construction. January 25, 2013
Calculating longitudinal shrinkage There's no firm factor for calculating longitudinal shrinkage in maple, but here's a place to begin. 1998.
Smelly lauan The Wood Doctor is quizzed about bad-smelling lauan in a commercial bar. Diagnosis: anaerobic bacteria. Prognosis: terminal. Prescription: replacement. 1998.
Ash baseball bats Where to find the strongest ash for baseball bats. 1998.
Loss in air-dried lumber The Wood Doctor provides typicial loss factors for several speices of lumber, when air-dried. 1998.
Warping and cracking in glued-up pine To find clues for cracked and warped pine panels, a measure of moisture content is needed before the splitting occurs. 1998.
Lightning-Struck Wood Puzzle Observations and speculation about whether lightning weakens the wood of a tree it strikes. August 29, 2006
Is Eastern red cedar toxic? Eastern red cedar does not share some of the reaction-generating characteristics of its Western namesake. 1998.
Spots revealed in dry, planed lumber Dr. Gene attempts to find the causes of discolored spots on dried lumber, revealed only when the stock has been planed. 1998.
Gluing white oak panels Because of its density, white oak lumber must be machined carefully for panel glue-up, and assembled within an hour of preparation. 1998.
Table Saw Blade Height Above Material Here's a long, thoughtful discussion of the practical and safety aspects of setting blade height when working with a table saw. November 13, 2009
Machining MDF Raised Panels Four out of four doctors agree: you can run MDF door panels in one pass on the shaper, if your cutters are sharp.January 2, 2014
Allegic reaction to sawdust Dangers associated with breathing sawdust and saftey precautions to take. August 1, 2001
20 Steps to Drying Hard White Maple The Wood Doctor's 100 percent guaranteed, sure-fire, no-snake-oil method for successfully drying hard white maple. 1998.
Cypress board and batten siding It's better to kiln dry that cypress before siding your house with it than to let air-drying suffice. 1998.
Birch for outdoor tool handles? White birch's comparative weakness renders it a poor choice for handles on tools that must sustain high impacts. 1998.
Bending gun stocks Advice on bending lumber in general and gun stocks in particular.1998.
Finishing Cost (In-House Versus Contracted Out) A cabinetmaker wonders why bids he gets to finish cabinets don't match his own cost to do the work himself. The question sets off a long discussion of cost, value, markets, and business strategies. May 17, 2010
Crowns on Band Wheels Why do crowns exist, and do they improve band tracking? January 29, 2004
Safety Gear and Equipment to Reduce Kickback Risk This discussion of kickback in the shop, its causes, and how to prevent it, includes several very frightening personal accounts of accidents. January 19, 2012
Steambending How much time to allow based on thickness and proposed radius of wood. September 23, 2003
Finger-Jointed Wood from 2x Scrap A discussion about the practicality of turning off-cuts into useable studs by finger-jointing. July 30, 2007
Lumber Moisture Content and Glue Failures When you cross-cut and rip lumber at too high a moisture content, then quickly glue up panels (such as stair treads), glue failures may soon occur. February 5, 2007
Wood weight and highway transport How to accurately estimate the weight of a truckload of air-dried lumber to assure compliance with trucking regulations. Includes access info for resources. August 1, 2000
Moisture content of walnut -- and measuring it A woodworker seeks information about acceptable moisture contents for walnut used in furniture, and wonders what makes moisture meters tick. 1998.
Working with casehardened lumber Casehardened lumber should be returned to the processor, or planed to the desired thickness; resawing is not an option. 1998.
Laminating different species In a triple lamination, it's OK to use two species of lumber, given a few conditions. 1998.
Tips for drying butternut burls Butternut burls are dried much like regular lumber. Also, a source for further information on drying burls. 1998.
Stained oak from supplier There are solutions for stained, milled, not-yet-dried oak lumber, but first , one must determine the cause of the staining. 1998.
Tooling tips for African wawa More important than knife angles to obtaining a smooth machined finish is feed speed. 1998.
Spraying Shellac Finishers discuss the fine points of applying Shellac, a traditional finish that can produce exceptional results when applied with care. December 31, 2012
Black streaks in birch Searching for clues to the cause of black streaks, showing up in birch dowels during manufacturing. 1998.
Challenging Issues for Wood Shops This thread tackles two issues at one time (listing the top issues confronting wood shops, and managing multiple different kinds of work), and beats both into submission. July 30, 2009
Stupid Woodworker Tricks With a nod toward David Letterman, pros discuss their least-best moments. January 24, 2005
Small Chunks Sticking to the Edgebander Roller Trying to get to the bottom of a performance issue with an edgebander: small particleboard core chunks sticking to the glue roller are starving parts of the joint for glue. November 15, 2010
Swing blade woes What are the drawbacks to this type of mill? April 29, 2003
Measuring Logs and Lumber Lumber measurement - Professor Gene Wengert clears up questions regarding proper measurement techniques. May 28, 2001
Birch Varieties Explained The Wood Doctor lists the various species of Birch tree in North America and relates them to lumber for sale on the market. July 12, 2013
Preventing kickback Diagosing the causes of recurring kickback, and finding cures. 1998.
Heat resistant veneer glue There are glues that will withstand the high temperatures in heat-assisted finishing operations. 1998.
The Cost of High Turnover Replacing a lost employee costs a business to a degree that isn't always appreciated. Here, cabinetmakers discuss the problem of selecting, training, and keeping valuable team members. September 8, 2007
Finger Versus Tablesaw A cautionary tale of a seven-stitches encounter with a tablesaw blade sets off a discussion of accidents had and lessons learned. April 25, 2006
Etiquette for Dealing with Customers A discussion about how a hardworking cabinetmaker can learn the social skills for interacting with customers from other walks of life. July 12, 2012
Setting Commercial Doors Advice for experienced residential carpenters on working with steel door frames and hardware on commercial jobs. March 26, 2010
Defining Quarter-Sawn and Rift-Sawn There are both formal and informal definitions for "quarter-sawn" lumber. Here, cabinetmakers and the Wood Doctor discuss the fine points. July 5, 2006
Sawing and Drying Less Common Species Sawyers give the Wood Doctor some feedback about lesser-used species such as Persimmon, Madrone, Boxelder, and Mulberry.September 5, 2011
Des stries noires sur le bouleau À la recherche d'indices sur la cause des traces noires apparaissant sur les chevilles de bouleau lors de la fabrication. 1998.
Eyewitness: Injury Scary stories about careless acts and bad consequences. June 28, 2005
Relief for Hurting Feet Long days in the shop are rough on feet. Here, woodworkers share sympathy and suggest practical ways to ease the pain. September 7, 2006
Tablesaw Accident Anecdotes Is a kerf in the palm of your hand a dado, a rabbet, or a groove? An accident that could have been worse sets off a collection of reminiscences, cautions, and advice. December 30, 2005
Matching the "Stickley" Look on White Oak Trying to accentuate the rays in stained oak? Fuming for different times or tweaking stain strengths can help fine-tune the piece's finished appearance. August 30, 2005
Preparing Face Frame Stock A lively discussion among cabinetmakers about whether, when, and how to joint, plane, or sand stock for face frames. October 8, 2005
Whether to Give Clients your Drawings Here's an extended discussion about appropriate policies for control of shop drawings and design layouts. May 26, 2010
Handling an Order Cancellation Early in the Contract Two lessons are learned from this case where a customer wants to cancel without explaining: One, contracts should spell out the exits for both parties; and two, some things in life are more important than business. January 31, 2012
Naming the Business Should you put your personal name in your company name? February 17, 2011
Feets Don't Fail Me Now All day on on your feet on a concrete shop floor is an rX for full-body pain. In this thread from the Cabinetmaking forum, old hands with old feet tell where they stand on personal footwear. October 1, 2005
Cabinet Pocket Doors and Adjustable Shelves A construction problem: how to build a cabinet with adjustable shelves, inset into a wall, with doors that open out and slide back into recesses next to the cabinet. August 30, 2010
Email Check Scams Targeting Woodworkers Fishy-sounding email requests for quotes are sometimes the opening step in an "overpayment" phony-check scam. July 13, 2010
Applying UV-Cured Coatings to Flooring Commercial pre-finished flooring comes with a UV-cured urethane finish, but that's an advanced process best left to the specialists. June 17, 2010
De-Glazing a Widebelt Conveyor The standard method is to sand the conveyor with the wide belt, but you can just use a random orbital hand sander instead. October 15, 2012
Sharpening Vibrating-Head Saw Blades Did you know you can sharpen the blades for those vibrating-head detail-sander saws? You can also make your own replacement blades. December 6, 2006
Rung Remedies Suggesteed repairs for loose chair rungs - 1998
Business Worries and Sleep Running your own business can make it hard to get a good night's sleep. Here's some advice on healthy habits that may help (personal and business both). April 9, 2008